Originality - Is it Still Possible?
BY DERYA SONER (MBG/IV)
a_soner@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
With the amount of ideas and discoveries that have accumulated over the existence of humanity, it is probably next to impossible to come up with something that no one has ever thought of before. We can perhaps evaluate this idea, that originality is putting old ideas together in new ways rather than coming up with ideas that are entirely new. This is most effectively seen within the framework of art and science, because these two realms are the most likely subjects of discussions of originality since it is in these realms that most "creations" take place.
Literary works, movies, paintings, music: they are reflections of ideas and emotions that we are generally familiar with, and yet they can handle these concepts in very unique styles. It would be difficult to film a movie about a topic nobody has ever handled before, but the way the topic can be handled can vary immensely. Even though movies have been widely available for almost a century, for instance, we can still witness original styles such as that of Tim Burton or Quentin Tarantino.
In the realm of science, however, there is perhaps more room for actual innovation since there is still a lot more we do not know about life and the universe. But originality can, and often does, mean putting old ideas together in science as well. There can be many tiny bits of discoveries, scattered around in time and space, but one who is able to put these bits together in the right way to complete the puzzle can receive the honor of being the original discoverer. With all the scattered bits of research going on around the world, it may simply take one person to put some old ideas together in a unique way to discover a cure for cancer, for example.
One thing does allow true originality though, technology. Improvements in technology can open the way to actual innovation, creation of something nobody has actually ever been able to produce before. Technology can raise an issue no artist has ever handled before, or it can create the means for a scientist to make a discovery no previous scientist could possibly think of before the availability of that technology. For instance, technological improvements in space travel or genetics can enable an artist to come up with science fiction stories that handle social and psychological issues that had not even existed prior to certain inventions. To give a specific example, Isaac Asimov was able to dwell on the possible consequences of artificial intelligence, the Internet, and space travel; an author that lived a few centuries earlier than him would not have been able to do so, at least not in a correct and broad manner. This would also hold true for the realm of science; the availability of an electron microscope can enable a scientist to look where no person has ever seen before, and think in a way no person has ever been able to think before.